July 20, 2001

AHRQ Releases Patient Safety Practices

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) July 17 released new evidence on practices designed to improve patient safety throughout the nation's health care system. The report, Making Health Care Safer: A Critical Analysis of Patient Safety Practices, was compiled by AHRQ's Evidence-based Practice Center at the University of California San Francisco/Stanford University and describes 11 practices considered highly proven to work but not regularly utilized in the nation's hospitals and nursing homes. It also includes a list of 73 practices that are likely to improve patient safety.

The report is the result of a comprehensive review of the literature from medicine, aviation, and other relevant fields. Among the 11 highly proven practices are giving patients antibiotics just before surgery to prevent infections, using ultrasound to help guide the insertion of central intravenous lines and prevent punctured arteries and other complications, and giving surgery patients beta blockers to prevent heart attacks during or after the operation. Some practices are not included because they lack sufficient testing to be considered highly proven or carry important potential risks. These include the increasing use of antibiotics to prevent infections, which has the potential to create antibiotic resistance.

Information: Farah Englert, 301-594-6372, or Howard Holland, 301-594-0314, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.